A Utah couple has been arrested after a 9-year-old girl told police that they poured water over her face as punishment. Fox 13 reports that on Dec. 3 authorities received a report about possible physical abuse occurring at a home in Provo. According to court documents, the girl told investigators that her father, 29-year-old Joseph Mitchell, and her stepmother, 28-year-old Ilaria Mitchell, had abused her on three separate occasions. The couple allegedly punished the 9-year-old by waterboarding her. The girl told police that the two would tie her hands behind her back and hold her down in the bathtub.“The 9-year-old stated she cannot breathe and it hurts when this happens,” the documents state.According to KUTV, authorities agreed that marks on the girl's wrists were consistent with her story.The girl also said Ilaria Mitchel hit her in the nose with a closed fist, making her bleed. The child described other kinds of abuse that were not detailed in court documents. She was taken to the hospital.Ilaria Mitchell and Joseph Mitchell each face one count of child abuse. The child's biological mother, Brittany Calabrese, told WKRC she couldn't believe the allegations when Child Protection Services called her. "She's 9, 9 years old. That is torture of a child," Calabrese said.Calabrese lives in Texas and said she was distraught upon hearing the news and being so far away.

PROVO, Utah —

A Utah couple has been arrested after a 9-year-old girl told police that they poured water over her face as punishment.

Fox 13 reports that on Dec. 3 authorities received a report about possible physical abuse occurring at a home in Provo.

Advertisement

According to court documents, the girl told investigators that her father, 29-year-old Joseph Mitchell, and her stepmother, 28-year-old Ilaria Mitchell, had abused her on three separate occasions.

The couple allegedly punished the 9-year-old by waterboarding her. The girl told police that the two would tie her hands behind her back and hold her down in the bathtub.

“The 9-year-old stated she cannot breathe and it hurts when this happens,” the documents state.

According to KUTV, authorities agreed that marks on the girl's wrists were consistent with her story.

The girl also said Ilaria Mitchel hit her in the nose with a closed fist, making her bleed.

The child described other kinds of abuse that were not detailed in court documents. She was taken to the hospital.

Ilaria Mitchell and Joseph Mitchell each face one count of child abuse.